The State of the Africa Region event will take stock of global headwinds affecting the region and provide a timely overview of macro-economic trends, given the slowing GDP, high debt, and historically high food and energy prices. The discussion will specifically focus on measures that can deliver big wins for food security on the continent, such as better targeted public spending, investments in food transformation and resilient food systems, and stronger intra-regional trade.

The State of the Africa Region event attempted to answer this age-old question and put some answers into practice. The discussion, moderated by Julie Gichuru, did not disappoint in terms of diversity, passion, and humor, with Africa Region Vice President Hafez Ghanem in his opening remarks declaring himself a newborn feminist in his “old age”, and Chief Economist Albert Zeufack linking gender inequality to slower-than-expected growth of just 2.6 percent for 2019.   An animated group of panelists talked through practical ways to close the gap between men and women in Africa. While there was consensus on areas like access to health, education, empowerment, and changing social norms, entrepreneur Ciiru Waithaka highlighted the need to move beyond gathering data and use what we know to drive tangible results. As a doctor working in fragile environment, Christabel Ngwashi outlined the important role of women in health care at all levels (policy, community, individual), and urged women not to rely on entitlement, but to earn ...

This seminar will discuss key challenges facing Africa amid a weak and volatile global economic environment, including the implications of the region’s continuing dependence on oil and other commodities. But the current environment also presents an opportunity to move forward on the economic diversification and transformation that the region needs to achieve sustained growth and development.

This event will focus on the links between economic growth, structural transformation and poverty reduction in Africa. Rapid growth in Africa since 1995 has largely been driven by the natural resources and services sectors, whereas the share of agriculture and manufacturing in GDP have fallen. What does this imply for the “quality” of Africa's growth? In particular, what can the data tell us about how growth in different sectors of the economy translates into poverty reduction? Are there implications for growth-promoting policies?